A pensioner fears having to shell out about £7,000 for a hospital bill while on holiday, despite paying for insurance cover.

Mavis Uttley, 74, of Bell Isle, Haworth, claims to have been "thrown out on the street" from the clinic in Benidorm.

She had spent 12 days in hospital being treated for pneumonia, only to be told her policy was invalid.

Now she is claiming that the Age Concern insurance, which cost her £226 at the Bradford branch, was miss-sold.

The company has claimed that she failed to inform its screening line -- which logs previous medical conditions -- that she was suffering from angina and a digestive complaint called diverticulitis.

But she argues that she went through the screening process when she first took out the policy in 2003 and confirmed the details were unchanged when she renewed them last September.

Husband Brian, 72, a retired garage owner, said: "I was asked at the Bradford office if Mavis was in the same position and I said yes and paid the money. I thought I was renewing the policy as you would your car insurance every year."

He now understands Age Concern had changed its insurance backers and his wife should have been re-screened.

"But we weren't told this. I thought we were doing the right thing making sure we were covered," he said.

"I thought we were getting the same insurance. I had no reason to believe otherwise.

"Somebody should have told us the situation had changed."

Mrs Uttley, who has lost a stone in weight, said she had to leave the hospital bed on the afternoon of the day she was told she had to go.

"It was horrendous. I was thrown out on the street," she said.

"They knew of my medical conditions and those conditions didn't have anything to do with the pneumonia anyway."

Mid-way through the treatment, the couple were informed the bill was £4,500.

"This has made me far worse. I have spent a lifetime going abroad and to Spain. I will never leave this country again," said Mrs Uttley.

The couple have run up an additional £468 hotel bill for the extra time Mr Uttley waited for his wife to be treated, and they now fear the final total could be around £7,000.

An Age Concern spokeswoman said: "The claim is being investigated and Mr and Mrs Uttley will be informed of the outcome. It would be inappropriate to comment further until the complaint procedure has run its course."